As the demand for integrated circuits having ever-small device features continues to increase, the need for improved illumination sources used for inspection of these ever-shrinking devices continues to grow. One such illumination source includes a laser-sustained plasma source. Laser-sustained plasma light sources are capable of producing high-power broadband light. Laser-sustained light sources operate by focusing laser radiation into a gas volume in order to excite the gas, such as argon or xenon, into a plasma state, which is capable of emitting light. This effect is typically referred to as plasma “pumping.” Laser-sustained plasma light sources typically operate by focusing laser light into a sealed lamp containing a selected working gas. These approaches typically rely on natural convection to cool the plasma. Natural convection is often insufficient for optimizing a given plasma source and may cause the plasma to grow outside of the optimal collection region, resulting in a larger and dimmer plasma. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide an apparatus, system and/or method for curing defects such as those identified above.